New Delhi: Veteran Australia batter Steven Smith will be shifting back to his favoured no. 4 batting position after pursuing a short stint as an opener, in the upcoming five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy. The move was confirmed by Australia chief selector George Bailey on Monday. It is understood that after David Warner called it quits from Tests, Smith had willingly volunteered to open the innings for Australia.
Although he could just score an unbeaten 91 in only his second Test in the new role, the 35-year-old batter didn’t come good in the series against New Zealand where he accumulated a total of 51 runs out of four innings. Bailey confirmed that skipper Pat Cummins and head coach Andrew McDonald are already aware of the fact and have combinedly decided to bring back Smith to his preferred slot.
“Pat (Cummins), Andrew (McDonald), and Steve Smith had been having ongoing conversations, separate to the untimely injury to Cameron (Green),” Bailey was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. Smith had indicated his desire to move back down the order after his failure in the New Zealand series and that he was already set to be accommodated regardless of Green’s injury that came to light on Monday itself.
As Smith earlier made the request to open for Australia, Green was slotted in at no. 4 but now that the latter is out for the summer with a back injury, requiring surgery, Smith is the most probable candidate for the spot.
Who’s to open for the Aussies?
“Steve had expressed a desire to move back down from that opening position, and Pat and Andrew have confirmed that he will be dropping back down the order for the summer. So, yeah, clearly we’ve got a No. 4 spot to fill and an opening spot to fill,” Bailey added. For the opening role, domestic stalwarts like Matt Renshaw, Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris, and teen batting sensation Sam Konstas will be in a tussle to win a place alongside Usman Khawaja.
Konstas was named in the 17-member Australia A squad that will face India A in two four-day matches starting on October 31 and November 7. Meanwhile, Australia will host India for the Border Gavaskar Trophy which starts on November 22 in Perth.
Steven Smith willingly took the role of an opener for Australia in Tests after David Warner called it quits earlier this year but the upcoming five-Test India series will see him back to his preferred middle-order slot. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
